This award-winning series reveals the full and fascinating stories behind
famous works of art, not just how they were created, but also how they
influenced others and came to have a life of their own in the modern world.

Rembrandt van Rijn - The Night Watch: This documentary tells the biography of
one of the world’s greatest group portraits, from its conception in 1642 to its
position today as a national symbol. Intriguingly, the painting is not actually
the picture Rembrandt intended people to see...

Johannes Vermeer - The Art of Painting: Just how Vermeer achieved perfect
perspective has been the subject of intense speculation and experiments for
years. This film reveals the simple secret and explains how the painting was
bought by Adolf Hitler.

Diego Velazquez - The Rokeby Venus: This film looks at the history, contemporary
reactions and legacies of Velazquez's seminal painting – one of the most
celebrated nudes in Western art but, surprisingly, relatively unknown until the
beginning of the 20th Century.